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THE 39th GAME: Should Pompey even be in the FA Cup?

It was Arsene Wenger who famously claimed that Chelsea spending Abramovich’s millions was equivalent to “financial doping”. He’s right of course, but at the same time, Chelsea were doing nothing wrong. But what about Portsmouth?  

Surely they have got to the FA Cup final with players that they could allegedly neither afford to buy, nor, for parts of the season, even afford to pay. So how is this fair to the Burnleys of this world, who have managed their success within budget, and who refuse to "dope" their team in this way? If the FA has effectively thrown Portsmouth out of the Premiership with their points deduction, why are they still in the FA Cup? It’s time that clubs that are well run and well managed are seen as the good guys. I propose a handicapping system; for every % over your turnover that you spend, you are handicapped a point. That would stop clubs going bust, stop their suppliers from losing serious amounts of money when they declare themselves bankrupt, and even up the playing field.

On top of this, I would like to see Portsmouth's FA Cup win, also propelled by unaffordable players, taken away. The 2008 FA Cup (Sponsored by QoS) winners are now Cardiff City! Errr, hang on, that might not last very long either…

THE 39th GAME: Congratulations Fulham and Hodgson - let your marriage be long and happy!

Hats off to Fulham and to Roy Hodgson - their thumping of Juventus in the Europa cup must go down as one of the highlights of the season for any neutral; in fact for all football fans - how many fans of other clubs actually dislike Fulham? Whilst the press are quick to laud the canny Hodgson ("The art of a good manager doesn't just disappear", etc), a quick look at his CV shows that he has never really been a success. Brief stints with Inter Milan, Blackburn and the Swiss national side were never covered with glory. But somehow he and Fulham seem perfect for each other, a match made in heaven, if you will. In these days of winning-is-everything football, where the "bounce" a new manager can provide can save you from relegation no matter what his actual skill, how many real "marriages" between manager and club are there?

There are plenty of managers who are pretty (!) enough to marry anyone... Ferguson, Wenger, O'Neill and Moyes would surely make an honest man of almost every club. There are some who will marry you, spend all your money, and then leave you for somebody richer (I'm looking at you, Harry...). And there are some whom everyone drools over (you Portuguese minx).

But the marriages I want to raise a glass to are the ones where manager and club seem to be perfect for each other, and their union leaves you with something far stronger than the sum of its parts. I may have missed a few - please do add your thoughts below - but I want to salute you, the ones that have stayed together, and commiserate the ones who, wrongly, thought the grass was greener and went off with someone else; Hodgson and Fulham, Gradi and Crewe, Roux and Auxerre, Curbishley and Charlton, Allardyce and Bolton...

Soccer’s money blues: it’s time for a re-think

The English Premier League is one of the country's greatest exports, and has over the last few years arguably become the most important league in the world. The premier one, no less? And we all know, with our business hats on, that red sells. Not just in newspaper mastheads, and adverts, but in the EPL too. The romance of great clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Will anyone really want to watch over the next few seasons as the blues of West London and Manchester begin to dominate? Can any neutral really get excited about a Chelsea vs Man City showdown at the end of the season?

Unfortunately for the EPL’s red contingent, the signs on the financial side aren’t promising. Manchester Utd, it was rumoured, might end up having to sell off prize asset Wayne Rooney in view of their staggering levels of debt. Liverpool have found themselves in a position where they allegedly do not have the cash to fire their manager. Arsenal, meanwhile, seem to have become a selling club, or at least one not prepared to go out and spend big money on big-name players. But come to think of it, there are some blues on the blue side of the EPL too. Just look at Portsmouth. And, who knows, the bubble might burst one day for a bigger club from that part of the colour spectrum. So what is to be done about football’s money woes, red or blue...?

Wenger's Christmas Conundrum: Stick or Twist?

So, is the title race wide open again? In a near perfect reverse of Arsenal's loss to Manchester United earlier in the season - the better side took an early lead, had a stonewall penalty turned down, and then proceeded to concede an own goal and an unlucky second - the win against Liverpool now puts Arsenal firmly back in touch with Chelsea and Manchester United. It took a freak weekend of results, but the striker-less and apparently dwarf-like Arsenal side have limped into third with the revolving door of the physio's room still going round. But can they stay in the race?

Now that Van Persie has been ruled out for the rest of the season, and Bendtner for another few weeks, Arsène Wenger has a decision to make in January - stick or twist? Eduardo and Vela have so far failed to make any impression in the Premiership, and one suspects that Wenger's stubbornness will mean that he will continue with both of the diminutive lefties until they succeed.

But might he just take a gamble? Talk around the stadium is that in Gazidis, the new MD, Arsenal finally have someone to push Wenger and ask him to rethink, much as Dein did in the past when Arsenal were winning titles. And maybe Wenger might indeed take a gamble on someone such as Edin Dzeko. You can imagine the excitement at the Emirates to have a giant to cause a bit of chaos in the opposition penalty area.

Or will Wenger stick? In a strange way, most Gunners are all dreading the announcement of the signing of Chamakh on a free transfer for the summer - not that it wouldn't be good business - but that it would tell them all they need to know: like the last few seasons Wenger is sticking, and looking to the future again...

The Gunners are coming.

Speedball2 completes the QoS look at the Premier League's main contenders by assessing the challenge of Arsenal...

Well, according to received belief, Arsenal fans should not bother to turn up this season; optimists predict 4th; pessimists suggest Man City should and – perish the thought – Spurs could pressurize their Champions League berth.

But unlike the rest of the top four, Father Time is a friend at the Emirates. This season, Arsenal fans will not have to endure the sad decline of favourite players, such as van der Sar, Neville, Giggs and Scholes. Most fans measure their teams' progress by the new signings made, but Gooners will not have forgotten the dramatic in-house improvements made by Flamini and Hleb that took Arsenal to the summit for so long a few seasons back before “that” game against Birmingham. If Song, Walcott, Bendtner, Wilshere et al. can do likewise and seize their chances, then there are enough seasoned Premier League players around them to make Arsenal viable challengers for the title. And I think that the other three big clubs actually look weaker than they have over the last few seasons; Utd have lost their best player, and most Liverpool fans “in the know” would probably say that they have too. As for Chelsea, they showed last season that under the wrong manager they can look pretty ordinary (although the reverse is also true). Whilst Man City and Spurs are looking to catch Arsenal, I think that Liverpool may prove to be the more vulnerable. I wonder if the top six will actually be closer than ever?

Transfers

In: Thomas Vermaelen (Ajax £8m rising to £10m)
Out: Toure (£16m), Adebayor (£26m)

Goalkeeper

Manuel Almunia has had a quiet few seasons for Arsenal, which in goalkeeping terms is no bad thing, of course. The common perception is that he is not good enough - that might be the case but at least he has purged the “uncharacteristic” errors that are now commonplace with Cech and van der Sar. Only Reina has been a better keeper in the last twelve months.

Fullbacks

The position where Wenger has struck gold the most in his reign. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna are two of the best – if not the best, bar Evra – in the country. Quick going forward, strong at the back, the fullbacks have always been essential to the way Wenger plays, frequently playing beyond the wide midfielders and adding bodies to any attack. In reserve, Kieran Gibbs is a very exciting prospect, looking totally at home playing in a Champion’s League semi-final, even after his disastrous slip, and Eboue is still an excellent if misguided and unloved player.

Centre Backs

With Toure gone and Senderos seemingly going, Wenger still says he will be strengthening this position, with height being the priority. Gallas has been an immensely impressive defender over the last few years for Arsenal and Chelsea, and ever since he was stripped of the captaincy, has knuckled down and started to play some of his best football. He will be a happier player this season having never combined well with Toure on or off the pitch, and with both a World Cup place, and a new contract / new club to attract with his contract expiring in 2010, he has a lot to play for. The big question mark is over Vermaelen. Like Gallas, he is under six feet tall, so this may not be the ideal partnership, but at last Arsenal have a player who has captained his previous side and is an international regular; the hope is that he will provide some of the leadership skills that have so obviously been lacking since Vieira left. Djourou is a regular Swiss international, and a tall one at that, but he has never really taken his chance at cementing his place in the side, while Silvestre is clearly a last resort.

Centre Midfield

Arsenal’s central midfield is something of a frustration to most of the fans. In Fabregas, Arsenal have possibly the most talented midfielder in the country, and yet alongside him there is no-one even close to his level. Alex Song, Denilson and Diaby are all decent enough Premier League players but none of them are Vieira. Or Petit. Or even the Romford Pele, Ray Parlour. Fabregas is crying out for a bodyguard to let him play, especially in those dark evening kick-offs in the North West that seem to derail Arsenal every season. It is the one blind spot that irks every Arsenal fan, with the feeling that not replacing Vieira has cost us every year. Each summer we flirt with another possible; this season it was Melo, Matuidi and Cana; last year Wenger’s £16m bid for Alonso was 200k shy of what Liverpool wanted if the rumours are correct. Gokhan Inler and Yaya Toure have been linked most summers, although probably the midfielder Arsenal fans would spend the most on would be Flamini, who walked away on a free just as he was starting to fulfil his potential. If Wenger cannot buy a top defensive midfielder before the window closes, most fans are resigned to another season of being also-rans.

Wingers

How many do you want? Arshavin, Walcott, Rosicky, Nasri, Diaby, Eboue, Vela, Traore. To be fair, it’s a pretty good collection, all with their pros and cons. In pre-season Wenger has played a lot with the 4-3-3 system, which seems to suggest that he will probably be tucking in his midfield with the strikers running the channels and the full backs providing a lot of the width. That should give us more stability, I just hope we don’t start playing as dull-ly as all those teams who played 4-3-3 a few years back.

Strikers

With Adebayor gone, the average striking ability seems to have risen. Van Persie will start as the no.1, but many people are expecting big things from Bendtner. He is usually the anti-Match-of-the-day player; whilst he works his socks off chasing, harrying, passing, tackling, etc. he tends to round off his good display with an appalling miss, the only highlight of his that will be shown. Having Eduardo back will be a big positive, and he looks pretty sharp so far in pre-season. Expect to see Arshavin, Walcott and Vela supplement at various parts of the season. Whilst Arsenal do not have a stand-out player, such as Torres, Rooney or Drogba, it is still a high quality collection, and there should be plenty of goals between them.

Star man

Andrei Arshavin. He had a very good introduction to English football last season and people won’t forget his four goals at Anfield in a hurry. Now with eight months of adapting, and a good pre-season behind him, fans are pinning all their hopes on the man who may be able to fill the boots of our last magician, Denis Bergkamp. He would prefer to play in Bergkamp’s position, but Wenger will probably start him on the left wing, especially with Nasri out until September

Surprise package

Maybe the surprise is no more, but Jack Wilshere will be big news this season. Certainly the most talented Englishman to appear since Rooney, Capello has already talked about taking him to the World Cup. Wenger says he will use him sparingly, but if has a good few games early on, the Arsenal fans may not let him be held back.

Prediction

They can win it if everyone clicks. I think they will surprise everyone but I’m not sure if they will last. Second. Behind Chelsea.